Those are Gary Keller’s rallying words from the chapter on Tactic #2 (Remargining Your Business – Expense Management) of the book “SHIFT“.
As we see daily changes around the country with how real estate is done, it’s imperative that we all slash our expenses – both personally and in our businesses. So we’ve gathered some ideas for you (including what NOT to cut!). Every single business owner AND every single Ops Boss™ should be doing this. Not only for yourself, but with your team.
The goal: Slash if possible, renegotiate prices, or put on pause.
PERSONAL EXPENSES
- Gym membership (can’t go to the gym if you are sheltering in place!)
- Spa membership
- Yoga/Pilates/OTF
- Hair coloring (time to go grey?)
- Eyelash/extensions subscription
- Magazine subscriptions
- Adjust your cell phone or cable/internet plan
- Netflix/HBO/Starz/Cinemax/Direct TV/Hulu
- Personal Trainer
- Renegotiate rates on credit card debt or other debt like car loans (or pay off with your HELOC with a lower interest rate)
- Audible/Spotify/Kindle
- Car wash subscription
- Rent
- Landscaper
- Postpone vacations & get deposits back
- Pest control
- Meal delivery
- Refinance your mortgage
- Manicures (do your own?)
- iTunes apps
- Rental fees on musical instruments
- Match.com
- Cleaning service (use your kids lol!)
- Stitch Fix/Rent The Runway/Trunk Club
- Florist
- Dog walker
- Babble
- Apple storage that exceeds your needs
- Dog grooming
- Pandora
- Car detailing subscription
- Gun Range subscription
- Golf Course subscription
- Country club membership
BUSINESS EXPENSES:
Same Goal: Slash if possible, renegotiate prices, or put on pause.
- Lease
- Ring Central
- Domain names you don’t use
- Social media posting services
- Dropbox (if you can use your GDrive)
- Landvoice
- Vulcan
- Efax
- Outsourced ISA (do your own)
- Listing Power Tools
- AM Cards/Sendout Cards
- Zillow
- Linked In
- Web sites you don’t use
- Expensive CRMs
- Wizehire/Indeed
- Canva Pro
From Coach Hannah Perkey, The Evelo Team: “We have been preparing for the shift for a couple of years so we didn’t really have any extra expenses to cut. Now we are looking at where we have the best return on our money (our Mets database) so we are cutting our haven’t Mets lead gen (isa company, online leads).”
THINGS NOT TO CUT
- Education
- Coaching
- Your Staff
What did Gary Keller say about this on his LIVECAST to the company on Monday?
“Get brutal on expenses. Learn to live on less. NOW. Protect your staff & your people, but cut anything ELSE you can.”
Ops Bosses™: This means NOW is the time to step up if you haven’t already. We teach the 3X Rule in our BE A BOSS classes. Each salaried employee should be an investment, not an expense. This means generating 3 times your salary in Gross Commission Income to the team. This can be done in a variety of ways: ensuring your systems are revenue producing, bringing in personal sphere referrals, bringing in talent to the team, retaining talent & more. It’s time for RESULTS. YOU help control your destiny. You are no longer “Empire Protectors”, you are “Revenue Generators”.
AGENTS: Don’t cut your staff yet. Now is the time to double down on lead gen, cut your expenses, and do all the things you haven’t been doing the past few years while the market has been thriving. I know you’ve been working hard. AND I know from coaching teams all over the country that it’s rare to find a team doing 3 hours of lead gen 5 days a week. Let’s all pivot and do this TOGETHER.
ABOUT COACHING: Gary also said: “You don’t cut on education, don’t be foolish. It’s just the opposite. You lean in, double down on education right now. And coaching? The LAST thing in the world you want to cut is your accountability lifeline. The research says that those people who are the MOST accountable, and hire a coach, are the most PRODUCTIVE and the most FINANCIALLY SUCCESSFUL on the planet, by a LONG shot, not a little shot.”
Jay Papasan added: “They are 77% more likely to do what they need to do.”
We have actually had new clients sign on during this crazy time. Because they know they need the collective wisdom, guidance, experience and accountability Ops Boss Coaching™ provides in a very unique way to the operations community.
One client who just renewed their contract sent this message:
“We have set up trigger points for when to cut or add line items based on team performance for the rest of the year. For totally transparency, you are pretty much the last thing to cut because we truly believe in your ability to guide us through the shift. We’re so ready to bet on ourselves and lead our community through the storm!”
Reach out if we can help. We’d love to chat!
Christy Belt Grossman, CEO, Ops Boss Coaching™